


Kin, found and lost and found again

by Flowerbed_Owl



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone: Balance - Fandom
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Character, Found Family, Friends to family, Gen, I'm making frogs an aro symbol and you can't stop me, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Siblings, does anyone still read taz balance fics in the year of our lord 2019....... please, lucretia is aro and magnus is arospec, or alternatively idiots to family, the rest of the birds are also there but they're mentioned in passing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-27 02:27:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20038402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flowerbed_Owl/pseuds/Flowerbed_Owl
Summary: The Protector and the Lonely Journal Keeper find familiar - and familial - solace in each other.(or, how to get adopted without all that legal paperwork)





	Kin, found and lost and found again

The Seven Birds weren’t exactly birds of a feather. Two elves, young and bright and riotous, sticking to each other like glue; a dwarf cleric who seemed to have a rather casual relationship with his god and with everyone else around him; a world-class captain who spoke highly of his crew and knew his skill and his mission well; a science expert, marked by his humble genius and his penchant for denim; a rough, boisterous young human who loved his friends and fought his enemies with the exact same fervor; and a newly-graduated but well-accomplished biographer who spoke little but created stories in droves. The Hunger – they didn’t know that was what it was, at the time – drove them to flock together, regardless.

And maybe they weren’t all the same, but they borrowed pieces of each other’s souls along the way, and they became something whole and something new. After 40-some years of living cycle after loop after life together, they had become, well, family. Maybe they didn't say it outright, but each one of them _knew_, be it in the way Taako knows everyone's culinary preferences well enough to effortlessly recite them if you’d have woken him up in the middle of the night, or the way Davenport always manages to come across some perfect, curious artefact on their current plane to give to somebody with a warm-spoken "I thought you'd like this", or the way Lucretia knows their habits down to such a detail that she writes down their speaking two words ahead of what they’re currently saying.

Magnus thinks about this often. They'd all grown so familiar, so inseparable to him now, but lately - that is to say, the last couple of years – he had been feeling something he couldn't quite place. He'd grown especially attached to that young, lonely journal-keeper 40 years ago, and then to the a little less lonely, a little more bright Lucretia, and then to the wonderful, capable woman always searching for more stories that he knew now. He tries to be in touch with his emotions, and the fact that he can't figure this one out frustrates him.

He doesn't care _more_ about her than the rest of them, but he feels something different, when they talk and talk through the night, and when they bond over being only children, and when he moves to protect her and when she can immediately tell that he's been upset. He can't tell what that feeling is. That is, until one ordinary sunny morning, when, over breakfast, Taako recounts the tale of Lup accidentally lighting his room on fire during one of their more intense feeling jams and lets out an exaggerated sigh. "Sisters, can't help but love 'em," he concludes simply and takes another sip of his drink.

Magnus nods in agreement. He thinks of the beach planet cycle 20-some years ago, when Lucretia spent the whole year making a portrait of the seven of them – which had now become a familiar, welcome sight in the main hall – and he kept catching her sketching the crew, and she kept coming up with more and more ridiculous excuses to keep her project secret, and...

Suddenly, he figures it out. “It”, at once, seems both obvious and impossible. He sits in silence for a moment and then he gulps down the rest of his drink; at some nebulous point along the way, she had become his sister.

How on _earth_ was he going to explain that one?

* * *

The answer comes a couple of cycles later, when, once again, they enter a new plane and the Light of Creation follows shortly.

This time around, the planet they come across is covered in lush forests of strange blue-green trees, with countless slow-moving rivers and little blinking lights - discovered shortly to be fireflies. The Light falls into possession of the locals, who are the source of the mesmerizing, rhythmic singing that the whole planet seemed to be enveloped in every night. Also, the locals are frogs. Granted, they’re a little more humanoid than your average frog, and they live in small towns scattered all across the planet, but they sing all the same. The Light had been captured by the people of one such town, where its inhabitants found it crashing down into a nearby lake and nearly flooding their settlement. During the first few months of this cycle, Barry and Davenport work to establish communication with the frogpeople, and after some trial and error they agree upon a time and place to meet with the frogs in charge of keeping the Light safe.

With the help of the twins, Barry had constructed a device to let them talk to the locals. They decide it would be Magnus and Lucretia who would go planetside – Lucretia was the most diplomatic person out of all of them, and Magnus would be there to keep an eye on things in case something went wrong.

On the arranged day Magnus spends his morning double-checking his and Lucretia’s equipment while she gathers up her most waterproof writing supplies. Lucretia confesses that she’s always been rather fond of frogs, and Magnus can’t help but agree. All in all, the mission seems like it’s going to be relatively risk-free, and the two of them are cautiously optimistic when they set foot on the swampy ground and trek to meet with the locals. The ambient croaking around the village and the sunlight tinted green through the leaves put Magnus’ mind at ease. After an hour or so, they make their way to the gaping mouth of a cave, illuminated by fireflies from within. Two fancily-dressed frogs stand there to meet them; they’re armed with equally fancily-decorated spears, but it seems like it’s more out of tradition that out of any real hostility.

“Hail and well met,” Magnus calls out as they approach, and the device Barry gave them translates into a series of croaks. The frogs call a greeting back and step forwards to meet them.

They stop a few feet away and glance at each other. Lucretia gives him a subtle nod to speak first. He clears his throat and starts. “My name is Magnus, and this is my...." Magnus bites his tongue right before he can say “sister”, caught off-guard by how effortlessly he’d almost said it. He scrambles to save, racking his brain for more suitable words, "…my, uhh, coworker, Lucretia!" He wonders if the translator picks up on his fluster, though the croaking all sounds the same to his untrained ear.

The locals wouldn't actually know if they were siblings, but they didn't look related - him with his fiery sideburns and heavy stature, medium tone a good few shades lighter than her, and her all tall and graceful, stark contrast between her hair and her skin. He mentally kicks himself and tries to give them a friendly grin, but, shit, what if that seems to the frogs too friendly for a "coworker", and he doesn't want to seem weird to them, and his expression is definitely doing some strange things now-

"...Yes, it's quite nice to meet you," Lucretia interrupts his train of thought and gives him a side-glance that he can't _quite_ decipher, but if he had to guess, it would be well-concealed confusion and a silent question of _what_, pray tell, was he doing with his face. That guess would have been almost entirely accurate. Lucretia shoots him that look and then turns back to the frogpeople and offers a polite, if subtle, smile.

"In any case, we've come to meet up and discuss the Light as agreed," Magnus clears his throat and recovers, doing his best to focus on the task at hand. The frogs seem if not unamused, then not particularly caring about the details of their relation to each other, and simply nod and turn to lead them inside the cave. Lucretia raises an eyebrow at him quizzically as they enter, but they have more pressing matters to attend to, and she doesn’t say more.

The negotiations go well, and the frogpeople agree to hand over the Light – if, in return, Merle and Barry spend the year working with them to help technological and agricultural advancement. After some debate, the both of them agree, and the details of that plan are left to be worked out some other day - it’s become a tradition for the crew to celebrate collecting the Light, and this time they were lucky enough to all be alive for it. Afterwards, when Magnus feels too tired and tipsy to continue listening to Merle debating the sentience of plants with Davenport for the 23rd time, he excuses himself to his sleeping chambers. Lucretia watches him wave everyone goodnight and glances back down at her sketches of the frogs they met earlier; she was, by profession, a biographer, but drawing had always put her at ease. She adds a few finishing touches while she listens to Merle somehow turn photosynthesis into a valuable spiritual lesson, and then she gets up as well.

She walks down the hall and glances past the open door into Magnus’ room. He’s lying on his bed deep in thought, not even noticing her. “Magnus?” she asks and walks in, and he looks up to greet her.

“Hey, Lucretia.” He sits up. “You did well down there today. I can’t imagine it’s easy trying to be eloquent when all your words are translated into ribbits.”

Lucretia laughs. “Yes, well, I do my best. Thanks for making sure we didn’t cro… I’m sorry, I absolutely cannot finish that sentence. Horrible.”

Magnus grins, “I think the twins have been a bad influence on you.” Lucretia shakes her head in fond exasperation. He can tell she has something to say, so he lets the silence rest while she thinks. She appreciates it.

After a moment she looks up at him, more serious now, and speaks. "You were acting a little strange down there. Is something wrong? Have I... said something? We _have_ to work together if we're going to defeat the Hunger. We can't afford to have a team member compromised."

He furrows his brow and shakes his head. "Oh, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? Did _I_ say something?" He isn’t quite sure where she’s going with this, but then he remembers his mishap during their introduction and tries not to grimace. He’d been a little awkward around her all day after that, though the whole “securing the Light of Creation” business had, fortunately, kept them both pretty occupied.

Lucretia glances off to the side and lets out that self-conscious laugh. "We've been on and off this ship for 42 years, Magnus. That's one hell of a long time to be "coworkers" with someone. I know perhaps I haven't been the most.... useful crew member in these cycles, but..." She tries to find some sort of excuse, but comes up empty when she looks at Magnus again.

Immediately, he springs up and he tries to fix everything. "Oh, god, Lucretia! I'm stupid, that's not what I meant at all. I just.... I wanted to say something, and then I didn't, and there was an awkward pause and I had to say _something_, and that... came out. You know you're my...." That word catches on his tongue again. "My friend, right? One of my best friends?"

Lucretia looks at him and smiles, tight-lipped and bittersweet. He was hesitating again, but she doesn't think he was lying. "Magnus, please just spit it out. We've all got god knows how many cycles left together on this ship and we can't let grudges or annoyances split the team up, not when the fate of the planes depends on us. I won't take it personally."

Magnus looks at her, frustrated and unsure, and he doesn’t know what to say, but he says it anyway. "That's just it, Lucretia, it _is_ personal. I don't want you to think I'm weird, and I don't wanna be inappropriate... As you said, we still have the rest of forever to be on this 'blaster and I just don't... want things to be awkward."

Lucretia's expression grows to one of confusion and apprehension. Him, out of all people…? She takes a pause and speaks, trying not to let her rising discomfort show, "You know that I'm.... I mean, of course you do, you're the one who explained it to me in the first place, but you know I can't... reciprocate? I know you said you were grey, but I suppose I didn't think about the possibility of it being, well, one of us..." She tries to give him an apologetic smile. She was sure she’d have noticed earlier, but what else could he possibly be talking about?

Magnus furrows his brow in equal and opposite confusion until she speaks the word "reciprocate", and then he goes wide-eyed and stares in shock instead, and he can't tell if he wants to burst out laughing or start screaming. Probably both, he decides.

"No, _no_, absolutely not,” he starts rambling, “of course I know you're aro, I am too, for the most part, I'm not in-" He grimaces in great discomfort even saying the words in her direction. "I'm not in love, please don't worry, I would _never_ do that to you." Even though she tries to keep it quiet, he hears her breathe a sigh of relief. Lucretia’s expression changes from one of dread to one of benevolent, if not bewildered, bafflement. She just watches him, and he gets the impression that she has no idea what to ask him.

He's in too deep, he finally decides, and he just goes ahead and says it. "Back then, at the cave, I wanted to call you my... sister? I don't know why. It just felt right and I almost said it, and then I chickened out, and then that whole thing... happened." It’s anxiety-inducing, but it feels good finally saying it. He finishes his sentence and then he catches himself subconsciously bracing for impact. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees her silently process his words.

"...Magnus Burnsides, you are a grade-A idiot."

He turns his head in surprise at her beaming voice and, indeed, sees her smiling wide, and then she breaks out laughing. It’s a beautiful sound. He isn't quite sure what to expect yet, so he tries hesitantly, "I know, it's kind of ridiculous, right?"

Lucretia finally gathers herself enough to look at him with the kindest, most warm smile on her face and she says, "It's been decades, Magnus. Literal decades. I think you can consider yourself adopted. I'll even write up some legal documents for you, if you want."

Magnus can't quite tell if the bubbling mess inside him is the alcohol or just the emotion, but he's about 82% sure _somewhere_ in there is blessed relief. "So… we're cool, then?" he asks, voice rising out of his control.

Lucretia considers it for a second before replying. "Only if you don't make me change my last name to Burnsides."

Magnus finally beams in return. "Okay, deal. But can we instead tell everybody that we found some ancient prophecies or whatever, and we're actually long-lost twins?"

"I'll consider it. Lup better not get jealous that she's not the only one with a brother anymore, though." Magnus never had siblings back then, before the Hunger, but hearing that word coming from her feels like coming home.

"Don't take this as an insult, but I don't think _anyone_ could out-sibling those two."

Lucretia snorts quietly. "You might just be right. I’d say we come in at a solid second place, though."

“That’s good enough for me,” Magnus decides, and he gives her a hug, readily accepted, and it feels _right_ to both of them.

* * *

58 years later, things take a turn for the worse.

When Magnus comes across her, standing there with tears in her eyes and surrendering the journal to Fisher, he really wasn't meant to see it. She _had_ to do this; there was no other option, not when the grand relics are causing death and destruction to the world they were meant to save. But no one was supposed to know, not like this, not _him_.

She doesn’t really hear it, not consciously, when Magnus asks her what she’s done. She watches her brother’s eyes glaze over with static, and the only thing she can do is promise so desperately that he _will_ remember again and that she can _fix_ this, but she has to do this, just for now, just until she can save everyone.

And then Magnus takes a look at the familiar face of a stranger and he asks, some unknown, blank emotion twisting his expression, "Who are you?"

It hurts her so much more than she ever planned for. But she can’t stop, not even for him. Her voice is desperate as she tries to get him to lie down, and it starts to tremble and break when she speaks, “I love you, Magnus, I love all of you. I’m sorry, it’ll be over soon,” and then the world turns to static.

* * *

Years pass, and it _is_ over soon, in the grand scheme of things. But maybe it took just a decade too long in the grander scheme of a human lifespan.

After betrayal, after reunion, after the day of Story and Song they both hesitate to say it first. He forgives her, of course he does, but it's not the type of thing you just up and forget. Neither of them is quite sure where the other stands. Was her betrayal too much for him, even if he forgave her? Did she spend too much time away, alone, having to distance herself from the three of them, to call him that anymore?

They never get to ask those questions, because they're answered, instead, with the help of a rowdy, freckled half-elf child.

In the days following the averted end of the world, they become just a little bit legendary, and, well, while a lot of people are polite and give them space, maybe cheering them on from a distance, the younger ones are often much too excited for that. On one such occasion Lucretia feels something tug on her robe and she turns around to see a kid, out of breath from awe or from running after her, all wide-eyed and bouncing. The crew was on their way to yet _another_ meeting with the press, though she got the impression their collective energy was running low and the media wouldn’t see them for a few months once they all finally burnt out. She was looking forward to spending the next few weeks just sleeping it off. She and Magnus had split off from the rest of the group – it was their turn to find refreshments for the crew this time around; instead of finding a Fantasy Starbucks, though, it seems like they’d found their biggest fan.

"You're Lucretia! The-th- you made the giant shield!" they assert, clasping their hands together. Their hair is long and tousled and they seem to be the personification of childlike wonder.

Lucretia smiles at them gently and nods. She’s become fond of children lately, and she suspects a certain boy-detective has had a part to play in that. "You've got the right one," she agrees. Her role in the whole “end of the world” business was, perhaps, more complicated than that, but she welcomes the break of being remembered simply as “the one who made the giant shield”.

They beam at her and speak, “I heard about you from-m the song,” and then they notice Magnus beside her and turn to him instead, "and I heard about you, too! You're M-mag-m, um, you're her brother!"

Lucretia inhales quietly and casts a quick side glance in his direction. She’d never stopped thinking of him like that, but hearing it said aloud was different.

Magnus catches her eye for a second and then looks down at the child and gives them that classic Magnus grin. "I sure am, kiddo." He pauses just long enough to see Lucretia's grateful smile and then he leans down to whisper conspiratorially, "I think Cap’n’port is right over there. If you're quiet, you could totally sneak up on him." The kid seems to be fond of that idea, because they thank Magnus excitedly and then sprint off in the gnome’s general direction.

He straightens up to watch them go and then turns back to Lucretia. She pauses before speaking. “You know, I guess they know _everything_ about us now. Poor Barry is going to get so much slack for wearing jean shoes in that one cycle. What was it, number 78?”

Magnus shakes his head disapprovingly, “That’s the one. Though, out of all the fashion disasters we’ve lived through, I can’t even say that was the worst one. Remember Taako in the 63rd?”

Lucretia groans and covers her face with her hands. “Oh, don’t even _remind _me.”

They stand in comfortable silence for a while before they hear Lup calling them over to join the rest of the group. Before they take off, Magnus asks, “Still adopted, then?”

Lucretia nods, keeping her face straight. “Yes. There was a no-returns policy.”

“I’ll take that,” he decides and puts his arm around her. She returns the gesture. And no bystander could mistake them – one battle-scarred and large, the other life-worn and graceful – for people who weren’t family. 

The Seven Birds aren’t flying tirelessly from the storm, now. But even after the end of the Hunger, after the clouds have cleared and the wind has started blowing again, it doesn’t seem like their flock is going to separate. Not anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to my friend Hanna for suggesting the cursed item of Jean Shoes (jhoes, if you will) as the thing that Barry wore in cycle 78 (as I unfortunately found out, they are a real item in real life. horrible)


End file.
